China - French-Chinese cooperation in the pilot Hai River Basin and Zhou sub-basin

Published December 2013

Under the French-Chinese cooperation agreement on water management signed on 21 December 2009, a pilot project was launched in this Hai River Basin for 4 years (2011-2015). It aims to test the application in China of some mechanisms for basin management, water pollution control and ecosystem protection, used in France since 1964. The second phase of the project (2012- 2014) mainly deals with the Zhou River sub-basin: 2,114 km2, 2.4 million inhabitants and main source of drinking water supply to the city of Tianjin. The project partners are the Chinese Ministry of Water Resources, the Water Resources Conservancy Commission of the Hai River and the Water Boards of Tianjin Municipality and Hebei Province, as well as the French Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy (MEDDE), the Seine-Normandy Water Agency (AESN), the Interdepartmental Syndicate for Sanitation of Greater Paris (SIAAP), the Interdepartmental Institution of the Seine Great Lakes and the International Office for Water (IOWater) which coordinates the project from a technical viewpoint.